PESHAWAR: Senior lawyer Abdul Lateef Afridi of the Awami National Party-affiliated Malgaray Wakeelan was elected president of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association on Saturday.

He defeated two candidates in the annual PHCBA elections on Saturday.

Two major alliances of lawyer groups backed by different political parties faced each other in the elections for which polling stations were set up at the Peshawar High Court, Mardan, Kohat, Charsadda, Nowshera, Swabi, Takht Bhai, and Lahor (Swabi).

The Four-Party Alliance comprised Malgaray Wakeelan, Muslim lawyers Forum, Peoples Lawyers Forum and Watan Pal Lawyers Forum, while the United Lawyers Front consisted of Islamic Lawyers Forum, Jamiat Lawyers Forum, Insaf Lawyers Forum, Justice Forum, Democratic Lawyers Forum and United Lawyers Forum.

Abdul Lateef Afridi, a former MNA, who has already served the association as president many times, received 739 votes against 617 votes begged by Khalid Mehmood of the ULF and 160 by independent candidate Mian Muhibullah Kakakhel.

Abid Ali of the Four-Party Alliance was elected the association’s general secretary by receiving 1,069 votes against 447 votes obtained by Babar Khan of the ULF.

Ali Zaman of the ULF was declared the vice-president as he received 603 votes against 553 bagged by Syed Inayat Shah and 347 by Mukamil Shah.

Mohammad Furqan Yousafzai of the ULF was elected the joint secretary by getting 960 votes against 532 votes grabbed by Habibullah Mohmand.

Ambreen Gulzar and Arshad Hussain Awan have already been elected unopposed as the finance secretary and press secretary respectively.

A total of 1,784 voters were eligible to participate in the polling.

GREETED: ANP central president Asfandyar Wali Khan congratulated Abdul Lateef Afridi over his election as PHCBA president for sixth time and said the newly-elected cabinet of the association would continue working for the judiciary’s independence and strengthening of democracy in the country.

In a statement issued here, Mr Asfandyar said the Malgaray Wakeelan, the lawyer wing of ANP, had always remained a source of pride for the party and the victory of Lateef Afridi popularly known as Lateef Lala was the party’s victory.

He said the Malgaray Wakeelan always stood for an independent judiciary.

“The victory of a true political worker and an honest person like Lateef Afridi is the real change in society,” he said.

The ANP leader said the collective decision of the legal fraternity to elect Lateef Afridi as their president would positively impact on the country’s political situation.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2019